Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 2,370 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 19.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,370 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $1,793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. grew its position in shares of AptarGroup by 1,063.3% during the 3rd quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. now owns 349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. Adirondack Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of AptarGroup during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of AptarGroup by 39.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AptarGroup by 117.7% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of AptarGroup during the 3rd quarter valued at $104,000. Institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.84, for a total transaction of $499,940.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,774,569.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other AptarGroup news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.84, for a total value of $499,940.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,774,569.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 32,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.67, for a total transaction of $4,533,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 159,024 shares in the company, valued at $22,528,930.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,500 shares of company stock worth $5,318,280 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AptarGroup Stock Down 0.1 %

ATR opened at $140.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.24. AptarGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $111.63 and a fifty-two week high of $145.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $140.75 and its 200 day moving average is $131.92. The stock has a market cap of $9.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.59.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $838.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $842.50 million. AptarGroup had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 14.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. AptarGroup’s payout ratio is currently 38.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ATR shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $157.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $125.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd.

About AptarGroup

AptarGroup, Inc designs and manufactures a range of drug delivery, consumer product dispensing, and active material science solutions and services for the pharmaceutical, beauty, personal care, home care, and food and beverage markets. The company operates through Aptar Pharma, Aptar Beauty, and Aptar Closures segments.